Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Remittances: Coronavirus

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 15 February (HL12985), what developments have been made following the call to action 'Remittances in Crisis: How to Keep them Flowing', which the UK co-launched with Switzerland in May 2020; and how do they intend to measure progress.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The Call to Action has achieved its key objective of raising awareness on the potentially devastating impact of COVID-19 on remittances. Over 40 countries took actions to improve access to remittances and financial services. Remittance companies also responded by waiving their transfer fees and offering incentives to senders and receivers of remittances. A stocktake report is currently being written to understand the key factors and measures taken that have contributed to changes in remittances flows since the start of COVID-19. The UK and Swiss Governments are leveraging the unique composition and convening power of the Call to Action coalition to transition it to a "Peerto-Peer Learning platform", which will facilitate dialogue, share experiences and best practices, and facilitate learning between remitting countries and key stakeholders.The Call to Action monitors developments at national levels through the World Bank and updates a tracker on the Call to Action website.

Department of Health and Social Care

Coronavirus: Disease Control

Lord Scriven: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Bethell on 19 May (HL236), why they consider the list of companies that were placed on the “VIP” fast-track for potential contracts related to the COVID-19 pandemic to be commercially sensitive, given that the question put sought no contractual or payment information; and whether they will now answer the question put.

Lord Bethell: The Department has to consider the position of suppliers which were referred to the high priority channel in terms of the likely publicity and attention releasing a list would attract. The impact on a supplier’s reputation, unrelated to the terms of their particular contract with the Department or ability to deliver the contracted outcomes, can affect a supplier’s competitive position in their respective market and confidence that its customers and investors may have in its commercial operations.

Asthma: Dupilumab

Baroness Masham of Ilton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the decision by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence not to recommend dupilumab for the treatment of severe asthma with Type 2 inflammation in their appraisal constitution document; and what assessment they have made of its recent approval by the Scottish Medicines Consortium for use in Scotland.

Lord Bethell: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is an independent body and is responsible for assessing new medicines and treatments in accordance with its existing methods and processes. NICE’s draft guidance on dupilumab for consultation of 7 May 2021 states that it is not recommended for the treatment of severe asthma. NICE has not yet published its final recommendations on dupilumab and the draft guidance is now open for consultation until 28 May 2021. There will be a further meeting of NICE’s independent appraisal committee in September to consider all comments received during the consultation.The Government has not made any assessment of the decision of the Scottish Medicines Consortium on dupilumab, as this is a devolved matter.

Coronavirus: Disease Control

Lord Scriven: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to publish a list of all the actions that have been made lawful under changes to COVID-19 regulations, but which have been described by Ministers of the Crown as “dangerous” within 24 hours of those changes taking effect.

Lord Bethell: We have no current plans to do so.

Coronavirus: Greater London

Lord Lipsey: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many of those tested during the surge testing for COVID-19 in Lambeth and Wandsworth in April returned a positive result.

Lord Bethell: Of those tested, 128 returned a positive result.

Coronavirus: Greater London

Lord Lipsey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of false positive results for COVID-19 among those tested during the surge testing in Lambeth and Wandsworth in April.

Lord Bethell: We have made no estimate.

Coronavirus: Greater London

Lord Lipsey: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many cases of the South African variant of COVID-19 were identified as a result of surge testing in Lambeth and Wandsworth in April.

Lord Bethell: No samples were identified as containing the South African variant.

Department for International Trade

Intellectual Property

Lord Smith of Finsbury: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership on the intellectual property sector.

Lord Grimstone of Boscobel: The UK’s intellectual property (IP) regime achieves an effective balance between rewarding creators and innovation, and reflecting wider public interests such as ensuring access and use of IP on reasonable terms. The Government will not sign trade deals that compromise the UK’s world leading IP regime. The Government will publish its negotiation objectives for the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, scoping assessment, and consultation response in advance of the start of accession negotiations.

Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership

Lord Smith of Finsbury: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to publish (1) their outline approach, (2) a scoping analysis, (3) their response to public consultation, and (4) a timetable for negotiations, on the UK's accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Lord Smith of Finsbury: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect formal negotiations on the UK's accession to theComprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership to begin.

Lord Smith of Finsbury: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they plan to publish their analysis of the economic impact of joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Lord Grimstone of Boscobel: On Monday 1st February, the Government submitted its notification of intent to begin the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) accession process. This was the first formal step towards accession before the launch of formal negotiations. The Government will publish the negotiation objectives, scoping analysis, and consultation response in advance of the start of formal negotiations. In accordance with the guidelines set out by the CPTPP membership, negotiations will begin once the CPTPP membership formally invite the UK to proceed. The Government expects this decision will be taken soon.

Service Industries: Switzerland

The Earl of Clancarty: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to amend the definition of a 'service supplier of the United Kingdom', as set out in Annex 1, Article 1(a) of the Temporary Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Swiss Confederation on Services Mobility, in order to enable UK service providers living in the EU to provide services in Switzerland.

Lord Grimstone of Boscobel: The Temporary Agreement between the United Kingdom and Switzerland on Services Mobility (SMA) provides British nationals with crucial certainty to supply services in Switzerland from the United Kingdom. To further support service suppliers, HM Government secured unprecedented access for British nationals to the Swiss Online Notification Procedure, simplifying application processes. Given the temporary nature of the agreement and the strong outcome secured for British services suppliers, HM Government is not planning to renegotiate the SMA at this time. However, the United Kingdom and Switzerland share a joint aim to maintain and develop our close trade relations.